The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Raised by Prospera Private Wealth LLC

Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 397.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,216 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 92,035 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up approximately 1.0% of Prospera Private Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Prospera Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.7% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,398,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,247,172. The firm has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $59.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.